Les Noms

Shows

Les Noms (The Names) offers a special insight into the America of the seventies. It is a portrait of a marriage in crisis and the story of a murderous sect. This 1982 novel was DeLillo’s break-through work. “The Names is a prophetic, pre-9/11 masterpiece: a 21st-century novel,” wrote The Guardian.

‘All aspects of Gosselin’s show – acting, film, dramaturgy, polymorphous scenery and live music – are superb.’ – The Guardian *****

The marriage of hack James Axton has reached crisis point when his wife decides to travel to A Greek island to volunteer at an excavation. In order to be with her and their son, he takes a job as a risk analyst. From his base in Athens he travels through the Middle East, and reports on the hostage taking at the American embassy in Tehran, an action that causes a political earthquake. James is witnessing the beginning of the modern Islamic revolution.

James' entanglements are interwoven with a plot about a mysterious ‘language cult’ behind a number of unexplained murders. Central themes in Les Noms are the intersection of language and culture, the perception of American culture both inside and outside their own national borders, and the impact that the narrative has on the facts of a story.

Joueurs, Mao II, Les Noms is the first part of a major project by Julien Gosselin, based on the work of American writer Don DeLillo. The separate parts can be seen prior to this marathon performance on 14 April.

Director

Julien Gosselin

With French director Julien Gosselin (Les Particules Élementaires and 2666), we will be adding one of the world’s greatest young directing talents to our theatre company. In his debut at ITA, Falling Man, he reflects on global terrorism and its effect on a family in New York during the aftermath of 9/11.

The performance is part of Gosselin’s great international Don DeLillo project, the first part of which will premiere at the Festival d’Avignon this summer. Part two, Falling Man with Eelco Smits, Hans Kesting, Maria Kraakman et al., will have its world premiere in March. ITA is the only place in the world where both parts will be performed.

-

Julien Gosselin has attended the EPSAD (Professionnel Graduate School of Dramatic Art) in Lille, directed by Stuart Seide. As an actor, he’s worked with Lucie Berelowitch, Laurent Hatat and Tiphaine Raffier. Then, as an assistant director, he has worked with Pierre Foviau, Laurent Hatat ans Stuart Seide.

In 2009, with six actors of his class, he founds the company Si Vous Pouviez Léchez Mon Cœur (i.e. If You Could Lick My Heart), and stages in 2010 Fausto’s Paravidino’s Gênes 01, first at the Théâtre du Nord, then on tour.

The next year, still with SVPLMC, he stages Tristesse Animal Noir, the French creation of Anja Hilling’s Black Animal Sadness, first at the Théâtre de Vanves, then on tour in 2012. In 2012, at the invitation of Vincent Baudriller, he takes part to the Kadmos program.

In July 2013, at the Festival d’Avignon, he stages for the first time his adaptation of Michel Houellebecq’s novel Les Particules Élémentaires (i.e. Atomised), which is SVPLMC’s third creation. In 2014, at the invitation of the Théâtre National de Bruxelles, he creates Je Ne Vous Ai Jamais Aimés, a long musical poem inspired by a text written by Pascal Bouaziz and projected on a large screen.

In 2015, he stages Stéphanie Chaillou’s Le Père at the Théâtre National de Toulouse. In 2016, he creates Roberto Bolano’s 2666, at the Festival d’Avignon then on tour (Paris, Athens, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Tianjin, Cologne) In 2017, he stages at the Festival de Marseille, Aurelien Belanger’s 1993, with the actors from the TNS school.

Julien Gosselin and Si vous pouviez lécher mon cœur are partners of The Phénix, Scène Nationale in résidence in Valenciennes and of the Théâtre National de Strasbourg.

In 2021, Julien Gosselin and Si vous pouviez lécher mon cœur will settle in Calais on the port. A theater factory that will mark the beginning of a new era for the company.

Also try

Mao II is a portrait of a retired writer who has been refusing to write off his great novel project for twenty-five years. He breaks through his self-imposed isolation when he becomes the key figure in an attempt to liberate a poet taken hostage in war-torn Beirut. The title refers to the famou...

Joueurs (after the novel Players, 1977) catapults us back to the eighties. It describes how the boredom and indifference in the lives of a wealthy New York couple degenerate into pure violence when they become involved in a terrorist conspiracy directed against Wall Street. With the background ...

American author Don DeLillo is the most eminent chronicler of his country and his time. In numerous novels and stories, he researches the often destructive impact of large events and social changes – such as the Cold War and nuclear threat, the digital age and globalization – on the lives of or...

The young director Julien Gosselin is the next great promise of the French stage. Previously, his acclaimed performance Les Particules élémentaires and the spectacular theatre marathon 2666 have been performed in this theatre. Now we are bringing his latest performance to International Theater ...